Visayas grid on Yellow Alert again on October 21

MANILA — The Visayas grid will be on Yellow Alert again on Wednesday, October 21.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said the Yellow Alert is in effect from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

A Yellow Alert means plants are producing less than the grid’s contingency requirement.

The NGCP said available grid capacity is at 2,569 MW, but peak demand is expected to reach 2,517 MW.

Six plants have been out since October, while 3 plants have been out since September, the NGCP said.

Likewise, three plants have been out since August, while one plant has been out since June. Four have been out since May.

The NGCP said the large, coal-powered Panay Energy Development Corporation 3 and KEPCO SPC power plants are among those that are out.

Power imports from Mindanao are also limited because of the unavailability of 5 power plants there.

The Energy Regulatory Commission earlier this month said it would investigate generation companies over the power disruptions in Visayas and Mindanao. The Visayas grid has been on Red and Yellow Alerts since May.

In September, the ERC ordered the retroactive implementation of the secondary price cap for August electricity trading in the Visayas and Mindanao spot markets and thereafter. 

An SPC is triggered when the rolling average on the entire Philippine grid breaches a set threshold. Once activated, the SPC will be computed and applied per region, using each grid’s rolling average price.

Spot market prices in the Visayas and Mindanao jumped to record levels due to the shutdown of many power plants in the regions.